diff --git a/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/WorldMap.cs b/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/WorldMap.cs
index 7dcd80e..9b837f8 100644
--- a/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/WorldMap.cs
+++ b/src/Poe2Trade.Navigation/WorldMap.cs
@@ -364,9 +364,10 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
     }
 
     /// <summary>
-    /// BFS through walkable (Explored) cells to find the nearest frontier
-    /// (Explored cell adjacent to Unknown/Fog). Returns direction toward the
-    /// first step on the shortest path, respecting walls.
+    /// BFS through walkable (Explored) cells to find the best frontier direction.
+    /// Instead of stopping at the nearest frontier, runs the full BFS and counts
+    /// frontier cells reachable per first-step direction. Prefers directions with
+    /// more frontier cells (corridors) over directions with few (dead-end rooms).
     /// </summary>
     public (double dirX, double dirY)? FindNearestUnexplored(MapPosition pos, int searchRadius = 400)
     {
@@ -379,24 +380,24 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
         var rr = searchRadius / step;
         var gridW = 2 * rr + 1;
 
-        // Visited grid + parent tracking (encode parent as single int)
         var visited = new bool[gridW * gridW];
-        var parentX = new short[gridW * gridW];
-        var parentY = new short[gridW * gridW];
+        // Propagate first step from start during BFS (avoids per-frontier trace-back)
+        var firstStepX = new short[gridW * gridW];
+        var firstStepY = new short[gridW * gridW];
 
         var queue = new Queue<(int gx, int gy)>(4096);
         var startGx = rr;
         var startGy = rr;
         visited[startGy * gridW + startGx] = true;
-        parentX[startGy * gridW + startGx] = -1;
-        parentY[startGy * gridW + startGx] = -1;
         queue.Enqueue((startGx, startGy));
 
         // 8-connected neighbors
         ReadOnlySpan<int> dxs = [-1, 0, 1, -1, 1, -1, 0, 1];
         ReadOnlySpan<int> dys = [-1, -1, -1, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1];
 
-        int foundGx = -1, foundGy = -1;
+        // Count frontier cells per first-step direction
+        var frontierCounts = new Dictionary<int, int>();
+        var firstStepCoords = new Dictionary<int, (short gx, short gy)>();
 
         while (queue.Count > 0)
         {
@@ -407,8 +408,9 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
             var wy = cy + (gy - rr) * step;
 
             // Check if this explored cell borders Unknown/Fog (= frontier)
-            if (gx != startGx || gy != startGy) // skip player cell
+            if (gx != startGx || gy != startGy)
             {
+                var cellIdx = gy * gridW + gx;
                 for (var d = 0; d < 8; d++)
                 {
                     var nx = wx + dxs[d] * step;
@@ -417,9 +419,15 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
                     var neighbor = _canvas.At<byte>(ny, nx);
                     if (neighbor == (byte)MapCell.Unknown || neighbor == (byte)MapCell.Fog)
                     {
-                        foundGx = gx;
-                        foundGy = gy;
-                        goto Found;
+                        var fsKey = firstStepY[cellIdx] * gridW + firstStepX[cellIdx];
+                        if (frontierCounts.TryGetValue(fsKey, out var cnt))
+                            frontierCounts[fsKey] = cnt + 1;
+                        else
+                        {
+                            frontierCounts[fsKey] = 1;
+                            firstStepCoords[fsKey] = (firstStepX[cellIdx], firstStepY[cellIdx]);
+                        }
+                        break; // don't double-count this cell
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -439,43 +447,54 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
                 if (nwx < 0 || nwx >= size || nwy < 0 || nwy >= size) continue;
 
                 var cell = _canvas.At<byte>(nwy, nwx);
-                if (cell != (byte)MapCell.Explored) continue; // only walk through explored
+                if (cell != (byte)MapCell.Explored) continue;
 
                 visited[idx] = true;
-                parentX[idx] = (short)gx;
-                parentY[idx] = (short)gy;
+                // Propagate first step: direct neighbors of start ARE the first step
+                if (gx == startGx && gy == startGy)
+                {
+                    firstStepX[idx] = (short)ngx;
+                    firstStepY[idx] = (short)ngy;
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    var parentIdx = gy * gridW + gx;
+                    firstStepX[idx] = firstStepX[parentIdx];
+                    firstStepY[idx] = firstStepY[parentIdx];
+                }
                 queue.Enqueue((ngx, ngy));
             }
         }
 
-        Log.Information("BFS: no reachable frontier within {Radius}px", searchRadius);
-        return null;
-
-        Found:
-        // Trace back to first step from start
-        var traceX = foundGx;
-        var traceY = foundGy;
-        while (true)
+        if (frontierCounts.Count == 0)
         {
-            var idx = traceY * gridW + traceX;
-            var px = parentX[idx];
-            var py = parentY[idx];
-            if (px == startGx && py == startGy)
-                break; // traceX/traceY is the first step
-            traceX = px;
-            traceY = py;
+            Log.Information("BFS: no reachable frontier within {Radius}px", searchRadius);
+            return null;
         }
 
-        var dirX = (double)(traceX - startGx);
-        var dirY = (double)(traceY - startGy);
+        // Pick direction with the most frontier cells (prefers corridors over dead ends)
+        var bestKey = -1;
+        var bestCount = 0;
+        foreach (var (key, count) in frontierCounts)
+        {
+            if (count > bestCount)
+            {
+                bestCount = count;
+                bestKey = key;
+            }
+        }
+
+        var (bestGx, bestGy) = firstStepCoords[bestKey];
+        var dirX = (double)(bestGx - startGx);
+        var dirY = (double)(bestGy - startGy);
         var len = Math.Sqrt(dirX * dirX + dirY * dirY);
-        if (len < 0.001) return (1, 0); // shouldn't happen
+        if (len < 0.001) return (1, 0);
 
         dirX /= len;
         dirY /= len;
 
-        var dist = Math.Sqrt((foundGx - startGx) * (foundGx - startGx) + (foundGy - startGy) * (foundGy - startGy)) * step;
-        Log.Debug("BFS: frontier at {Dist:F0}px, first step dir=({Dx:F2},{Dy:F2})", dist, dirX, dirY);
+        Log.Debug("BFS: {DirCount} directions, best={Best} frontier cells, dir=({Dx:F2},{Dy:F2})",
+            frontierCounts.Count, bestCount, dirX, dirY);
         return (dirX, dirY);
     }
 
@@ -504,7 +523,8 @@ public class WorldMap : IDisposable
                 colored.Set(r, c, new Vec3b(104, 64, 31));
             else if (v == (byte)MapCell.Wall)
                 colored.Set(r, c, new Vec3b(26, 45, 61));
-            // Fog not rendered — too noisy from spell effects bleeding through overlay
+            else if (v == (byte)MapCell.Fog)
+                colored.Set(r, c, new Vec3b(55, 40, 28));
         }
 
         var px = cx - x0;